As October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, it seemed important to not only remember the lives of our sweet angel babies but also to celebrate our very special rainbow babies. A rainbow baby is the term for a baby born after a miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death or infant loss. While there is nothing that can ever erase the pain of losing a child in pregnancy, delivery, or soon after birth, our rainbow babies (as their name suggests) truly represent beauty, light, and hope following a treacherous storm.
Dear Rainbow Babies,
Due to the circumstances surrounding your birth, it seems appropriate to let you know that you are a very special baby and that you are loved in a way that cannot be described. Of course, all parents love their babies with an indescribable force, but there is something about you that makes this love extraordinary.
You see, sweet babies, before your parents were blessed with you, they were faced with a devastating experience where they lost something incredibly precious to them. This unfathomable loss left a hole in their hearts. This hole was gigantic, all-consuming, actually. Every day, this hole seemed to grow larger and larger, and it was accompanied by debilitating pain. It often seemed that this hole would remain forever present.
But then the prayers of your parents were answered, and you came into the world. As they held you for the first time, admiring your perfect face and delicate hands, they could feel an enormous sense of relief rush over them. It quickly became evident that the cure to the pain they were feeling was you. You were the sole reason that the seemingly everlasting ache began to subside, and you were the one thing that could begin to restore the emptiness of the hole. The memory of that ache will never completely go away, but don’t worry, babies, this doesn’t mean that your parents are sad. This memory simply acts as a powerful reminder of how wonderful you are.
You should know that you are the one who saved your parents. You brought them the relief that no other person could ever bring, and you were the light at the end of a very long, lonesome tunnel. For such a tiny being, that is quite a hefty responsibility, but you have carried it beautifully.
You should also know that after your birth, you now represent something very profound. You represent hope to other parents, who, similarly to yours, have lost something very special. And as they dream of their own rainbow baby, they look to you for comfort and motivation, as you have shown them that their feelings of pain and emptiness can subside one day, too.
So, precious rainbow babies, thank you for coming into our lives. Thank you for soothing our pain. Thank you for bringing hope to so many others. Thank you for being you. Our hearts were broken, and you were the one to put them back together. And now those hearts will love you immeasurably for always.
With love,
A very blessed mother
